At Last!

Just reading through my posts, and can't believe I've not even mentioned the World Cup once! All the hype and build up and at last the day has arrived.
I have told Cathy to expect no help or assistance around the house in any way at all whilst any game is on. And I don't care if it's only Paraguay v Costa Rica and I cannot name one single player on the pitch - IT'S THE WORLD CUP!!

OK, so first, England's chances? In a nutshell, they have a decent chance, though I think it is unlikely they will win it. We have a good goalkeeper, some world-class defenders and midfielders, but where England really misfire - is up front.

Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham, Ferdinand, Terry, Cole would walk into any national football team (even Scotland Acornman!), but in my opinion Michael Owen is one of the most over-rated strikers in the history of football. OK, he's not bad, but nowhere near world class. He couldn't even break into the Real Madrid team full of aging overweight strikers!! And don't get me started on Peter Crouch. I know he's not that bad, but is he the best we can do?
And why is Defoe so consistently overlooked - maybe there is something with him that we are not aware of, as he's not a regular starter at Tottenham either.

So overall, England, Italy, Spain (the perennial under-achievers in tournament football)and France will be there or there-abouts - but for me it is hard to look past Brazil or Argentina, and I am going for the latter as my prediction.

Spent yesterday out and about at an interview and to see a friend and I have to say - I love this weather. Is it just me or do the female population of this country look so much more attractive in the sunshine? Maybe it's the short skirts and revealing clothes they wear? Maybe I'm becoming a dirty old man? Either way, the beautiful ladies of this country were out in full force yesterday and it was a sight to behold.
A park in Liverpool saw a lot of topless secretaries catching some lunchtime sun yesterday - and this alone gets it my vote for City of Culture for this year and any other year you care to mention.

Spent a few hours on the poker tables as well, opening up a Titan Poker account as the bonus seems quite easy to reach, and at 150% of buy in, well worth it! Sat down for a few hours play and am about 1/5th of the way to the bonus, and running about 20$ up. Nothing particularly exciting, and I was playing at the 1$ and 2$ limit levels to get the hands up quickly. Needed to adapt my game slightly to the 'call with anything' strategy that many players adapt at this level. Had a particularly interesting session with 4 maniac/loose/idiot type players. Hard to play with one sometimes, I had 4, but fortunately, the idiot style was bearing out more than the maniac/loose, so I managed to head up to 50$ profit before being pegged back by some unlucky river cards.

Also hit the tables at Poker Room, and after 4 hours play, finished 7$ up. I felt pretty frustrated at this - and this morning, not quite sure if this is justified or not. Sure, it's better than finishing 7$ down, or any other amount down, but I can't help feeling a bit funny. I suppose I have to accept that I won't win every session I play (but why not?) and I played pretty well overall, with one or two exceptions, so I'll take it and also, I ran up a lot of player points which can be converted into $ so I guess the 7$ will actually be more.

So, this afternoon, it's off to Bargain Booze for a crate of cold bottled beer, empty the fridge of everything ('I don't care if Mia needs her veggies fresh - ask next door if we can use thiers' didn't go down too well!) and I'm set for the first few games of the World Cup and maybe laptop on knee for a bit of poker as well.

Enjoy the sunshine and don't even think of disturbing me!